Making disciples of Christ in Taiwan

Author: Erich and Kelley

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Taiwan! Happy 2019! We trust that you all enjoyed a blessed Christmas season celebrating with family and friends, and that your new year has gotten off to a great start! We are thankful for the 2 weeks we had to celebrate the holidays with Erich’s family in Germany. It had been several years since his immediate family had all been together, so we were thankful for this special time.

Prayer and Praise:

Coffee Shop. January 12th marked 1 year (!) that Aroma Cafe Dong Yuan has been opened! We continue to be grateful for the doors the cafe is opening for us in terms of connecting with local neighbors and other churches. It’s our prayer that God will keep using our cafe as a light in our community this year, and that many will have the opportunity to experience Jesus’ love at the cafe.

Family. After dealing with some illness immediately following our return from Germany, we are thankful to say we are all currently healthy. We’d appreciate prayers for continued good health and stamina. The boys are continuing to enjoy their days at a local preschool and we love hearing about their interactions with their friends.

Chinese New Year. February 4th-10th is the biggest holiday celebration of the year – the Chinese New Year! It’s by far our favorite time of year here and provides great opportunities to spend time with people. We have plans to travel south to visit the family one of our cafe co-workers – please pray we can be a blessing to them!

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Mt 5:14-16)

We are so grateful that your partnership is allowing the Aroma Gospel Cafe to become a light in a dark place!

For the Glory of God,Erich, Kelley, Max, and Sam

Enjoying quality time with Erich’s family on a farm in Germany.

Kel with Ms. Lin and another neighbor.

Our newest cafe worker, Max. He’s making great progress!

For more pictures and videos of our Aroma Dongyuan Gospel Cafe, please visit and like our Facebook page.

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Taiwan! Since our last update many exciting things have been happening here in Taipei. Listed below are a few highlights:

Our Aroma Cafe Dongyuan has recently had the opportunity to host several community gatherings, including: Summer VBS courses, church small groups, photography classes, weekly youth group meetings, kid’s birthday parties. and English outreach events. We praise God for how He is using this cafe to bless our neighborhood!

Max and Sam have been thriving at their nearby local preschool and are very comfortable in both English and Chinese.

Kelley has had the chance to serve as a translator for sermons at church.

Erich has begun meeting regularly with other local business owners, with the goal of each business reaching its potential to bless the community around the shops.

A mom and son who first started coming to our cafe for the weekly Children’s Story Hour, who then attended a week of VBS at the cafe, are now regularly attending the Aroma Church.

We have completed all the steps in our process to adopt a Taiwanese little girl. Lord willing, she will join our family in early 2019.

Prayer and Praise:

Coffee Shop. Please pray for unity and good communication amongst our cafe staff. Our one employee struggles with emotional issues, and lately has been causing some disturbances among the team. Pray for us as we lead our team and for us all to work well together.

Family. We are thrilled that tomorrow evening we will be welcoming Kelley’s parents to Taipei, who will stay with us during the next month. We look forward to making lots of memories, and are thankful for the chance to be together.

Our hearts echo the lyrics of this song,

“Lord, I need You, oh, I need You. Every hour I need You. My one defense, my righteousness. Oh God, how I need You.” It’s our prayer that in all we do, Christ may be glorified. Thank you for partnering together with us!

For the Glory of God,
Erich, Kelley, Max, and Sam

With friends at the Aroma Gospel Cafe.

Erich at a local tea shop 🙂

For more pictures and videos of our Aroma 2 Gospel Coffee Shop, please visit and like our Facebook page.

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Taiwan! Summer is in full swing here in Taipei which means very hot and humid weather (think close to 100°F even in the evening), typhoon season, and lots of ice cream and shaved ice treats to keep cool 🙂 Since the opening of our Gospel coffee shop 6 months ago life seems like a blur as it’s hands-down been the busiest season of ministry we’ve had since arriving in Taiwan 12 years ago. But, even though we are tired, our hearts are full of gratitude and praise for God’s provision and leading step by step.

Prayer and Praise:

1. Gospel Coffee Shop. Our prayer has always been that this cafe would become a place where ministry happens and where people can meet Jesus. God has been answering that prayer. Here are a few ways that doors have opened to use the coffee shop space for outreach:

Almost every Saturday evening we partner with another church as they hold their youth service in our cafe. This means, on average, each Saturday night 15 local teens are coming in to hear about Jesus!

We were able to host 3 weeks of Vacation Bible School for local kids during May / June. The kids got to hear stories from the Bible and hear of Jesus’ love for them, many for the very first time. We are thankful for the seeds that were planted and pray they grow.

Beginning at the end of July, we will be partnering with another local church to host a moms’ small group. This group is intentionally focused on evangelism to moms that live nearby our cafe. Gospel Coffee Shop. Our prayer has always been that this cafe would become a place where ministry happens and where people can meet Jesus. God has been answering that prayer. Here are a few ways that doors have opened to use the coffee shop space for outreach:

2. Family. We are thankful that for the most part we have all been in good health over the last several months. The boys are doing great and continue to bring us much joy each day. They are both currently enrolled in a Taiwanese preschool and are both very comfortable conversing in Mandarin Chinese.

As always, thanks for praying and for staying in touch! None of this would be possible without your support.

For the Glory of God,
Erich, Kelley, Max, and Sam

Fun during one of our summer VBS sessions!

Heading outside with the boys during the recent typhoon weather.

For more pictures and videos of our Aroma 2 Gospel Coffee Shop, please visit and like our Facebook page.

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Taiwan! The past few months have probably been our busiest stretch since moving to Taiwan 10 years ago. Since the Aroma Dongyuan Gospel Cafe opened on Jan 12, we’ve been going almost non-stop, welcoming new customers, making espressos, practicing our latte art, managing finances, hosting events, etc. Running our own shop has been a steep learning curve, but we’re proud to report that as of March, we are very close to financially breaking even. Just as important, we’re making many deep connections with our surrounding community – praise God!

Prayer and Praise:

We learned that our 3-year old, Sam, got a guaranteed spot at the same local pre-school where Max attends. He’ll start half-days in September.

Erich’s brother, Lukas, visited us for 3 weeks recently. We had a great time together, and were especially grateful for Lukas’ willingness to help with babysitting 🙂

One of our Cafe employees lost his mom to sickness recently (his English name is “Stone”). Please pray for him and his family during this time of grief, and for us to be Christ to him.

Many days it feels like we’re running a marathon, and we do appreciate your prayers for endurance and faithfulness as we seek the highest prize (1 Cor 9:24).

For the Glory of God,
Erich, Kelley, Max, and Sam

Our Cafe signage.

A scene from the Coffee Talk event we host in our shop every Friday night. This is a great bridge event to help our Taiwanese friends improve their English while introducing them to church friends.

This Easter egg painting activity we hosted was well received.

On an outing with Lukas and one of our Cafe employees.

For more pictures and videos of our Aroma 2 Gospel Coffee Shop, please visit and like our Facebook page.

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Taiwan! A big dream came true for us last Friday with the grand opening of our Aroma 2 Gospel Coffee Shop! We’re so grateful for the many of you who have been praying and giving towards this project. Please continue to pray for stamina as we’ve been putting in long hours at the shop.

To get a close-up look of our opening day, please click on the video below.

For the Glory of God,
Erich, Kelley, Max, and Sam

For more pictures and videos of our Aroma 2 Gospel Coffee Shop, please visit and like our Facebook page.

Max’s great adjustment to preschool and the positive development we are seeing in him

Another missionary kid that Sam gets to play with twice a week to keep him company while Max is at school

Reconciliation among co-workers

A visit from Erich’s parents

Prayer and Praise

Thanksgiving week. Kelley will share twice this week at the mission center about the meaning of Thanksgiving. Please pray that through each event opportunities will arise to have deeper conversations with the local parents attending these outreaches. We plan to celebrate Thanksgiving with other missionary friends on Thursday and enjoy a home cooked meal together!

Coffee Shop. Please pray for Erich as he is navigating all the fine details (lawyer meetings, employee contracts, financial planning, etc.) of opening a modern coffee shop. Pray for wisdom, clarity, and good communication between all parties.

Health. As always, we appreciate prayer for good health and strong immune systems. Please pray for good sleep at night and protection from unwanted germs!

We echo these lyrics to the old hymn “We Gather Together” often sung at Thanksgiving: “Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining, ordaining, maintaining His kingdom divine”

For the Glory of God,
Erich, Kelley, Max, and Sam

On a short hike outside Taipei city with Erich’s parents – it’s great having them here 🙂

Those are not oranges, they’re persimmons, a delicious fruit harvested in Taiwan around this time of year.

Some recent pictures of the renovation efforts at the Aroma Gospel Coffee Shop. Like our Facebook page to see ongoing updates.

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Taiwan! Thank you to everyone who to wrote us in response to our last update regarding securing a location for the Gospel Coffee Shop. We were blessed through your encouragement! It has been an intense past month of meetings, meetings, and more meetings. Here is a bit of what took place: We signed a 5-year contract for the coffee shop, worked our way through many legal issues as foreigners opening a coffee shop in Taiwan, interviewed two interior designers (and decided on one!), and have had countless meetings with our coffee shop manager.
All this, in addition to our normal ministries, taking care of kids, and daily life has left us physically exhausted at times. But, our hearts are full of joy and excitement as we are expectant to see how God is going to use this coffee shop to further His Kingdom in our neighborhood!

Prayer and Praise

Team Unity. Any time a group of people needs to work together there are bound to be differing opinions, different ways of communicating, and even conflict. And, when your team is cross-cultural these things are even more likely to happen. Please pray with us for one heart and mind as we work together with our coffee shop team and for wisdom as we lead them.

Church. Our Sunday services run bilingually (Chinese / English). Please pray for Kelley as she translates for the sermon this Sunday.

Health. As we head into the cooler months, please pray for us to stay healthy. Nov-Feb have typically been tough for us as a family in regards to contracting respiratory infections, viruses, etc. Living in a packed city of 7 million people it is hard to avoid germs, so please pray for strong immune systems and protection over our health.

Thank you for keeping in touch with us, for praying, and for supporting us so well!

Max working on his preschool homework 🙂

Ready to brave the elements!

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Taiwan! We have some very exciting news to share! After 2 years of praying, fundraising, working out many legal issues, getting barista trained, and team-building, we have finally found the location for our Gospel Coffee Shop! God has gone above what we could have even asked for, as the landlady is a local believer and is giving us 2 months free of rent for the remodeling. To God be the Glory, great things He has done!

Hope Center. Kelley continues to serve at the mission center in our neighborhood twice a week. Tuesday mornings she co-leads an outreach for moms / kids, and Saturday mornings she helps to lead an outreach for local children. Please pray for unity among the co-workers, wisdom in sharing Jesus’s love with the people that come through the doors, and for open hearts from the Taiwanese to receive His love.

Adoption. We are making good progress towards the adoption of a little Taiwanese girl. We are currently finishing up some mandatory training courses, and will be visited by our social worker within the next 2 weeks to complete the home study. Please keep praying for God’s leading in this adoption journey.

Ephesians 3:20 – “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”

For the Glory of God,
Erich, Kelley, Max, and Sam

A view of our storefront – soon to become our Gospel Coffee Shop!

Our new landlady, a local Christian in the Taiwanese Presbyterian church!

Kel with a local mom whose heart has recently become more soft towards Jesus!

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Taiwan! During the past month we did something we’ve never done in our 10 years of living in Taiwan – we drove a car around the entire island! Our trip took us down the beautiful Eastern Coast (where the winding mountain roads made our boys car sick!) and around Taiwan’s southern tip, from where we eventually headed back north along the urbanized West Coast. We had the use of another missionary family’s car this summer, so we jumped on the opportunity to see Taiwan in a way we never had before. Despite encountering two typhoons during our travels, we had a great time of soaking in Taiwan’s beautiful scenery!

Prayer and Praise

Mission Trip. The first stop on our road trip around the island was stopping in a city on the east coast called Hualien. There we, along with a group of 12 others from our church, helped run a children’s camp in partnership with a small local church. We helped teach English, led Bible stories, and played lots of games with the 60+ kids. We saw 15 children pray to receive Jesus as their Savior during that week – praise the Lord!

Church. This past Sunday our church had a baptism at the beach. Two girls were baptized and another girl, who came to know the Lord through the Aroma Church, was commissioned as a missionary to another city in Taiwan! It was an exciting Sunday and a great time of fellowship as a church.

School. Max started local preschool last week! The school system is quite rigorous even for 4 year olds in Taiwan (most 4 year olds go M-F, 8am-4:30pm), but we are currently only putting him in half-days. His school is just a 5 minute walk from our apartment, and is located right in the middle of a bustling fruit and vegetable market! The first few days were a bit tough, but now Max is really enjoying it. As the only foreign family at the school, we have lots of opportunities to share with people why we are in Taiwan and what we do here.

We are so thankful to each one who takes the time to read our updates and remember us in prayer!

For the Glory of God,
Erich, Kelley, Max, and Sam

A group photo with some of the younger kids attending our Hualien Bible camp. ​

Max during his first week of preschool. We’re pleased that he’s adjusting well & making friends!​

A picture taken after a hot pot dinner with Joyce, a short-term missionary who lived with us for a month. It was a joy to host her!

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Taiwan! Last month it rained, rained, and rained and this month it is hot, hot, and hotter! Every day we experience temperatures with a heat index of over 100F and high humidity. We are very grateful for air conditioning in the apartment! Thank you to everyone who wrote us for our birthday (Erich and Kelley share a birthday, July 1st) – we appreciated all your greetings and well-wishes!

Prayer and Praise

Mission Center. Every week Kelley serves at a local mission center in various capacities. A week ago she co-led a daily VBS for 12 kids, ages 7-12. All of these kids were unchurched and most had never heard the Bible stories we shared. Pray that the seeds that were planted in their hearts will take root and grow!
Last Sunday night a grandma who brings her granddaughter to the weekly moms / kids outreach Kelley co-leads was baptized! She’s been coming to the mission center for different events over the past year, and about 3 weeks ago declared she wanted to stop worshipping idols and believe in Jesus! Pray that her baptism will begin a revival among her family members.

Church. Our church continues to have short-term interns and teams here helping in different capacities throughout the summer. We are currently serving as a host-family, as well as leading various sessions, prayer walks, etc. July 24-30 we will be traveling to the Eastern part of Taiwan to assist a local church in running a kids camp. Please pray for unity among our team, good health, and open hearts! After camp finishes, our family will continue to another city on the Eastern coast for a week of family vacation and much need R&R!

Friends. Every week Erich leads an intensive discipleship group with 3 Taiwanese men. Please pray that through their meetings these men will grow in their walks with the Lord and be raised up as leaders for the Kingdom!

We are so thankful to each one who takes the time to read our updates and remember us in prayer!

For the Glory of God,
Erich, Kelley, Max, and Sam

Taken at grandma’s baptism the other week 🙂 Her daughter is at the far right. Please pray she will decide to fully trust Jesus too!

Taking our dear friend, Miss Lin, out for a birthday dinner 🙂

Max & Sam were recently asked to be ring bearers for a friend’s wedding – here’s the result 😀

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Taiwan! We’ve been experiencing lots of rain here in the city during the past 2 weeks. Last week some parts of Taipei even ‘shut down’ as roads were flooded. Because people rely heavily on public transportation and walking to get places, continuous heavy rainfall often affects ministry events, meetings, etc. Praise the Lord that none of these cancellations take Him by surprise! But we do long for some sunshine before long 🙂

Prayer and Praise

Adoption progress. We have completed the large information packet for our Taiwanese agency (think 30-essay type questions all answered in Chinese!), and have also completed 3 out of 5 prerequisites for our upcoming home study. We continue to ask for prayer for God’s leading in every part of this process.

Church. Our church has several short-term teams from the US here this summer, as well as several students doing internships. Besides being a host-family, we have been helping to lead them in several ministry events, such as: VBS-style outreaches for kids, walking tours of our neighborhood, leading sessions on ‘Rhythms for leading a Healthy and Balanced Life in Ministry’, book discussions, etc. It has been keeping us quite busy, but we love the opportunity to share about our neighborhood and serve our local friends through outreach.

Friends. Monday evening a friend of ours died as a result of a scooter accident, he was only 24. Please pray for his family and friends as they grieve his loss. We shared some mutual friends, so please pray that through this tragedy we will have more opportunities to share Jesus with them.

As always, thank you for standing with us in ministry and for lifting us up in prayer! We are so thankful for you!

For the Glory of God,
Erich, Kelley, Max, and Sam

Sitting next to Erich is Alex, a church intern who lived with us this past month. He flies back to CO tomorrow. It was great having him!!

A picture taken on one of the last sunny days before the rains started 🙂

A popular Taiwan summer favorite, Mango Shaved Ice!

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Taiwan! Summer is definitely around the corner as regular temperatures have already hit the high 80-90℉s. We’ve been taking advantage of the nice weather, especially by taking family bike rides. We live about a 5-minute ride from the riverside, and have been enjoying riding along the waterfront and taking in the Taipei city scenery. The past month has been busy with ministry, adoption progress, and working hard towards opening the Gospel Coffee House, set to begin operations this September!

Prayer and Praise

Adoption progress. We are currently working our way through lots and lots of paperwork, getting background- and health checks, meeting with social workers, etc. We feel very grateful that the Taiwanese adoption agency we are working with is very organized and extremely helpful. Please continue to keep us in prayer as we work our way to being able to adopt a Taiwanese child!

Church. Erich’s intensive discipleship group has had a great start and he’s enjoying building deeper relationships with these 3 local guys. Please pray for wisdom for him as he meets weekly with them. Erich preached a sermon on “Building community in the Church” a couple weeks ago, and received great feedback! Kelley continues serving the church through translation and kid’s ministry, both of which are challenging and rewarding.

Mom’s group. The mom’s group outreach Kelley co-leads every week had a Mother’s Day outreach last week, and about 12 moms came! It was a great time getting to ‘pamper’ them, and each mom was able to make a bookmark on which we pasted Bible verses about their identity in Christ. One of the moms, Jia Yan, works every Sunday in her food shop, so we are now picking up her little boy (2.5yrs) and taking him to church with us. He’s come with us twice so far and is really enjoying it. Praise the Lord for the opportunity to share Jesus with this little boy.

Here are some of the lyrics to a song we sang in church recently (translated into English): “He is freedom, He is healing right now; He is hope and joy, love and peace and life.” What a privilege to be able and serve Him in Taipei!

For the Glory of God,
Erich, Kelley, Max, and Sam

A group photo of the moms who attended Kel’s Mother’s Day event. Several have recently made professions of faith! The top banner reads “Jesus loves you!”

A neighbor patiently teaching Max how to properly hold his chopsticks 🙂

Sam & Max enjoying a bubble tea drink on a hot day. See the differently colored tapioca bubbles in the cup? Each color is a different flavor 😀

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Taiwan! “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” As we celebrated Easter yesterday, we are so thankful for the joy and hope we can have because of the resurrection of Jesus! Serving in a country where the people around us are bound in fear and constantly doing all they can to ‘please the gods’, we are grateful to be loved unconditionally by a risen Savior! Our prayer is that more and more Taiwanese will come to know and love the one, true, God.

Prayer and Praise

Adoption progress. Praise the Lord we passed the big intake interview and have officially been accepted to begin the adoption process. We have been assigned two social workers who will walk with us through the entire process, and are now busy filling out paperwork (lots and lots!), and preparing for our home study on April 24th. Please pray for each step in this process to go smoothly and that God would already be preparing the right child to become part of our family.

Church. Easter Sunday our church had a baptism service. It was a great time of celebrating new life in Christ together! Erich will be leading an intensive discipleship group at church starting this Thursday. Please pray for the 3 local men he’ll be discipling.

Mom’s group. A few of the moms that are a part of the group Kelley co-leads each week are facing great difficulties. Yu Mei is a local believer but her husband is not. He recently found out that she has been attending our mom’s group meetings, as well as reading the Bible with another missionary. He became very angry at this discovery and told her she had to pick God or him. Right now she’s not allowed to attend any meetings. Please pray for Jesus’ peace and comfort to be near to her, and for God to do a work in her husband’s heart. Another mom is having a lot of trouble in her marriage and wants a divorce. She isn’t a believer – please pray during this trial we will have more chances to share Jesus with her!

“From my mother’s womb, You have chosen me, Love has called my name; I’ve been born again, Into your family, Your blood flows through my veins – I’m no longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God!”

For the Glory of God,
Erich, Kelley, Max, and Sam

A picture taken at yesterday’s Easter baptism service. The grandfather praying over his grandson after getting baptized.

A picture taken at the weekly local kids outreach, which Kelley co-leads.

Our dear friend Ms. Lin took Max out to McDonald’s for his 4th birthday 🙂

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Taiwan! While many of you on the East Coast are surrounded by snow, we here in Taipei are surrounded by rain and have been for what seems like months (in reality it has only been a couple weeks). Since we rely on public transportation and our scooter to get around, in order to not get soaked, we’ve been stuck indoors more than we like the past couple of weeks. But, thankfully the forecast has some sun in the coming few days, so we look forward to getting out and soaking it up!

Prayer and Praise

Adoption Interview. Our first interview with the adoption agency went very well! Thank you to all who were praying and wrote to us about it. The agency will have their monthly meeting at the end of March where they will discuss our case and then let us know if we have been officially accepted into their program. We are praying for good news!

Ministry. Kelley continues to enjoy co-leading a group for local moms every week. Just this week a grandma that attends occasionally with her granddaughter made a profession of faith! Kelley also serves at the same center another morning each week co-leading an outreach for neighborhood kids, which she is really enjoying. Erich keeps busy meeting with local guys for discipleship and doing a variety of administration work for The Aroma church/coffee shop. In a few weeks he will have the opportunity again to go into a local school to share the Easter story.

Family Health. Overall, Kelley has healed well from her surgery but continues to deal with some lingering nausea and pain. Please pray for complete healing. Max’s cough has improved (with the help of regular nightly medication) and we are thankful he’s been able to get better sleep the past few weeks.

Thanks to each of you for staying connected with us and keeping us in your prayers! It’s a privilege to serve the Lord together with you!

For the Glory of God,
Erich, Kelley, Max, and Sam

A look into the weekly mom’s group that Kelley helps lead.

A typical Taiwanese dessert: herbal jelly with sweet potato balls (left), and sweet tofu with a variety of beans (right).

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Taiwan! The past month was a full month for us. Kelley’s parents visited us just in time for us to celebrate the Chinese New Year together. Chinese New Year is the biggest holiday in Taiwan, and this year it lasted for 6 days. We enjoyed the festiveness of the city and spending time with friends. For the Chinese New Year’s Eve meal we celebrated with Pearl (our first landlady from 10 years ago) and her family. The meal did not disappoint – we enjoyed everything from fresh shrimp to Chinese ‘hamburgers’ to three kinds of soup. See pictures below 🙂

Prayer and Praise

Family health. Thanks so much to all who prayed for Kelley’s surgery. The surgery (uterine fibroid tumor removal) went smoothly and she is recovering well. We were very blessed to have her mom here during surgery and for 10 days afterwards. She was a huge help with the kids, around the apartment, etc. Kelley is still struggling with post-op nausea and hasn’t been able to eat much since the operation. Please pray her nausea quickly subsides and she can fully recover. Also we’d appreciate prayer for Max. He has had a bad cough for about a month now and it especially flares up at night, which then disrupts his sleep (and ours too!) Please pray for his healing.

Adoption progress. On March 8th we will be having a 2.5 hour interview with a Taiwanese adoption agency. Working through this agency is pretty much our last hope in terms of working with a local agency to adopt from Taiwan. During the past few years the Taiwanese government has been gradually changing their laws to restrict local adoption by foreign families. So we are praying if God wants us to continue pursuing adoption, then this meeting will go well.

Coffee Shop Update. This week Erich will be in meetings with our local partners to discuss questions related to investment, contracts, ownership, ministry focus, etc. of the Gospel Coffee Shop, currently on track to open later this year. Please pray for wisdom and clarity, and follow our progress via the coffee shop’s Facebook page.

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.” Jn 6:35.Our prayer is that our precious Taiwanese friends will come to know the One who gives Living Water – thank you for partnering together with us!

For the Glory of God,
Erich, Kelley, Max, and Sam

A festive Chinese New Year market in North Taipei. In Chinese culture, red is the color of joy & fortune.

So much candy, and the vendors always give free samples!

Erich with Pearl, our very first landlady here in Taiwan. After having moved 5 times since then, we remain good friends!

Part of a feast Pearl and her mother cooked for the Chinese New Year’s Eve at her home.

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Taiwan! We’d like to start by wishing you all a Happy New Year! 2017 marks our 10th year of living and serving in Taipei. It’s incredible how quickly 10 years have passed. We are continually grateful for the privilege of ministering in Taiwan, and are excited to see all that the Lord will do in the coming 10 years!

Prayer and Praise

Christmas Update. While we miss our families more than usual during the holidays, we are thankful for ‘like family friends’ with whom to celebrate here. During the Christmas season we had the opportunity both at church and in our home to welcome local friends and share together the joy of Jesus’ birth. Christmas Eve was especially fun as we had 5 un-churched Taiwanese friends over for a time of cookie decorating, sharing a meal, gift exchange, and reading the Christmas story.

Church and Discipleship. Over the last few weeks we have had several new local friends regularly joining church services. Two students in particular come from difficult home situations and until now have had very little interaction with the church. Pray for Jesus to heal their hurts and for them to open their hearts to Him. On Thursdays we now are caring for a 4-year old girl named Zi Qi. This precious girl also has a very tough home life, and our prayer is that through our times together each week, she’ll learn about the love our Heavenly Father has for her. Also, please pray for her mom to have a desire to consistently join church services on Sundays.

Coffee Shop Update. While things are moving slower than we would like, we know that everything is in God’s hands. People are being interviewed in the coming weeks for positions at the shop, and the startup team is busy doing research for locations, restructuring menus, etc. There will still be a good deal of ‘red tape’ we need to go through in terms of licensing and permits, financial details, etc., but we trust that God is going to use this Gospel Coffee House for His glory in Wan Hua. Thank you all for continuing to pray with us through this process!

We press on, believing the words in the beautiful song “Thy Will,” “I know you see me, I know you hear me, Lord, Your plans are for me, Goodness you have in store.”

For the Glory of God,
Erich, Kelley, Max, and Sam

Kel teaching a girls’ small group about Christian marriage & parenting.

Sam turned 2 on December 17. Lots of his friends helped him celebrate 🙂

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Greetings from Taipei! This is our first update written from our new apartment. Thank you to everyone who prayed for us to find a new place to live. The same day that we wrote our update last month we went to see an apartment that evening and decided to take it. So during the last four weeks we packed up our old apartment, cleaned and painted the new apartment, and moved everything over. We are only about a 10 minute walk away from where we used to live, but have significantly more space and it’s a great location for ministry. We are so thankful!

Prayer & Praise

Erich’s mom’s visit. Erich’s mom arrived Nov. 4th and has been a tremendous help with our packing, painting, cleaning, and moving! We are very grateful for all her help, and now we have a few days left to do some ‘fun things’ before she flies back to Germany on Monday. The boys love having Oma around too 🙂

Church and Discipleship. Things at church are going very well and we are encouraged how God is opening doors for service and discipleship. Erich is currently teaching a discipling class every Wednesday night with three local guys, and is gearing up to start another discipling group in January. Pray for these groups to bear much fruit.

Health. As we head into the winter months, we would especially appreciate prayers for good health. We seem to battle some sort of respiratory or stomach bug every several weeks, so please pray for strong immune systems and good health!

As Thanksgiving approaches next week, we’d like to once again say how thankful we are for each of you! Thank you for supporting us, praying for us, and loving us so well!

For the Glory of God,Erich, Kelley, Max, and Sam Schindler

We’re all enjoying time with Oma!

Erich and Chuck working on the new apartment. Chuck is one of the Taiwanese guys Erich’s been discipling.

Thanks to so many of you who are following and funding our Gospel Coffee House project! Stay updated on our progress via our Facebook Page.

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Greetings from Taipei! It’s hard to believe we are nearing the end of October already! Today the high in Taipei City is 32C, or 90F, so it definitely doesn’t feel like Fall around here yet. We’ve been encouraged throughout the past month in many ways; local friends coming to church, opportunities for discipleship, progress with the coffee shop, etc. Praise God for His daily goodness and grace!

Prayer & Praise

Encouraging visit from our mission leaders. From September 30th – October 4th two leaders from our US mission agency (Shepherd’s Staff Mission Facilitators) visited us, along with another family serving with SSMF in Taipei County. Their visit was very encouraging, and we are thankful for the time they spent with us, ministry advice they gave, and for all the goodies they brought us from ‘home’!

Church and Discipleship. Sunday evening both Miss Lin and Joe (two friends many have been praying for) were both at church. They each are making steps in knowing Jesus more. Pray for Joe as Erich disciples him, and for Miss Lin’s heart to keep being opened and softened towards trusting Jesus. The decision for our church plant to partner with another local church has been a huge blessing. We are so grateful for how God has led us.

New apartment. We are looking to move into a slightly bigger apartment by the end of the year. Our current apartment is just about 700 sq. feet, and having a bit more space would be great! Until now, we haven’t been able to find any that are in decent condition (the apartments in this area of the city can be quite old and run down), but we are trusting that God has the perfect place for our family. Please join us in prayer that a place will open up soon!

Thank you for all your support and prayers! We couldn’t do what we do without you!

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Greetings from Taipei! Thank you to all who prayed for and wrote to us while the boys were sick last week. They both contracted a virus, which led to severe diarrhea, vomiting, and loss of appetite. We spent two different days in the hospital where Sam needed an IV to help with dehydration. We are happy to report both boys are better now and are back to their playful, energetic little selves 🙂

Prayer & Praise

Local Mom’s Group. On Tuesday mornings, Kelley serves together with 2 other missionary moms in leading a play group/small group as an outreach for local moms and kids. They play, sing songs, and tell Bible stories. Pray for the seeds that have been planted to grow and bear fruit for the Kingdom!

Church and Coffee Shop. “God’s ways are not our ways”. We have all said that before, but this past month we have experienced it first-hand. Through a series of events and prayers, God has opened the door for both our church and future Gospel Coffee Shop to partner together with another local church. This is very exciting and an answer to prayer, as working together we will have a stronger team, more experience, and access to more resources. We hope to be able and launch the coffee shop in the Spring of 2017.

Preschool for Max. We’d like to start Max in a half-day local preschool. Things run very differently here than in the US, and availability is based on a lottery drawing. We have a few leads for suitable schools, but hope to find the best fit for Max. Please pray for the right door to open up!

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Greetings from Taipei! We have now been back in Taipei for a little over one month, and a full month it has been! It’s been a blessing to be back at church and fellowship once again with our co-workers and friends. We have had several non-Christians attending our services the last couple weeks, and are praying for open hearts to receive Jesus. Additionally, we have had several meetings with Evangeline, our future Gospel coffee shop manager, and are so grateful for her hard-working spirit and committment to doing the best job possible. Family wise, the boys are doing great and are having fun seeing all their friends they missed while we were in the USA.

Prayer & Praise:

Seekers’ Class. Erich is starting an 8-week class for those seeking and interested in learning more about Jesus. There are 3 guys that have signed up. Please pray for good discussions and for the Lord to work in their hearts.

Saying goodbye. Two of our American co-workers are returning to the USA next week. They have been with us since the beginning of our house church 3+ years ago all the way until now. Not only have they been instrumental in our church planting project, but have become dear friends. Please pray for all of us as we say goodbye.

Coffee Shop. We, along with Evangeline, are being trained 2 days a week in the “ins and outs” of running of coffee shop. Please pray for quick learning!

Isaiah 43:19, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

For the Glory of God,

Erich, Kelley, Max, and Sam Schindler

A recent rainbow over Taipei – God’s promise for Revival!

Thanks to so many of you who are following and funding our Gospel Coffee House project! Stay updated on our progress via our Facebook Page.

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Greetings from Taipei! First of all, thank you to each one who prayed for us as we traveled back to Taiwan last week. The trip was long, but praise God, all our flights went smoothly and the boys did very well! We were happy to land back on Taiwan soil, and it was fun to be greeted at the airport by two friends from church. It was a blessing to see many of you while we were in the USA, and we thank God for orchestrating our 8 weeks there.

Prayer & Praise:

Re-adjusting. Jet lag has been tough for us coming back. We are slowly getting back into a normal sleep pattern, but would appreciate prayers for our bodies to quickly re-adjust, and for us to have the energy we need to get things done.

Church. We will be meeting with our church co-workers this Sunday before our service for a time of processing the last two months and re-connecting as a team. We are so thankful for these brothers and sisters and for their hard work while we were gone. Please pray for continued church growth, and for new friends to find a relationship with Jesus.

Gospel Coffee Shop. We are grateful that while in the USA we were able to raise close to $10,000 towards the opening of our Gospel Coffee Shop! We praise God for Evangeline, a Taiwanese sister, who will be serving as our coffee shop manager. Please continue to pray for wisdom and unity in decision making.

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Greetings from Elizabethtown, PA! We apologize for our delay in sending out this month’s prayer update. We arrived in the USA on April 4th, and hit the ground running. We are currently living with Kelley’s parents in Elizabethtown, PA, and are enjoying being with family, as well as re-connecting with supporting churches in the area.

Praises:

Our journey to the States went very well! All three flights were on time and the boys were real troopers. Thank you so much for praying for our travels!

April 10-13 we had the opportunity to participate in the annual missions conference of our sending church, Mt. Calvary. It was a joy to see old friends, as well as meet new people. Thanks to all who came out!

Prayer requests:

May 3rd we will fly to Wheaton, IL. We will spend the month of May between Wheaton and Milwaukee, WI, where we will be with Erich’s family, as well as visiting a supporting church. Please pray for safe travels!

Please keep our church plant in Taipei in your prayers. We are so thankful for our co-workers who are stepping up in our absence. Please pray for the church to grow and people to continue to meet Jesus!

Thank you for all your prayers on our behalf!

For the Glory of God, Erich, Kelley, Max, and Sam Schindler

Just landed in Harrisburg, and still smiling!

Max had an all-American 3rd birthday party 🙂

Thanks to so many of you who are following and funding our Gospel Coffee House project! Stay updated on our progress via our Facebook Page.

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Greetings from Taipei!

“I was a day away from committing a terrible mistake that most likely would have landed me in prison for the rest of my life. But, when you took my hands and prayed for me, I felt a power that I had never felt before. In that moment I realized how wrong I was and decided that from now on I want to live my life for Jesus.”

These are the words from Zheng Hong, a guy who passed by the door of the building where we hold church services, and because he saw a white face, out of curiosity decided to go in. He met Jesus that night and Erich is now actively discipling him. Praise God!

Prayer and Praise

Church. Since starting weekly church services in our new location, we have seen the power of God firsthand. From stories like the one above, to having some of our unsaved Taiwanese friends attend church for the first time ever, God is working and we are grateful. We are currently planning our Easter outreach & church service on the 27th. Please continue to pray for the church to grow in Wan Hua!

Gospel Coffee Shop. We are still in the process of raising funds for our Gospel Coffee Shop, as well as doing some necessary research as to where the exact location should be. We have currently raised 23% of our needed startup funds. As well, we are praying for a Taiwanese who would be able to work with us full time as our coffee shop manager. Please continue to pray for us to have wisdom in making key decisions.

Travel. We leave Taiwan in 3 weeks for our 8-week home assignment in the USA. To say the next few weeks will be busy is an understatement. Please pray for us and our team as we prepare for our departure.

Ephesians 3:20- “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”

See you soon!

For the Glory of God, Erich, Kelley, Max, and Sam Schindler

A peek into a recent church service

Spending time with one of our good friends, Pei Pei.

Thanks to so many of you who are following and funding our Gospel Coffee House project! Stay updated on our progress via our Facebook Page.

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Greetings from Taipei! Last week we celebrated the biggest holiday of the year here, Chinese New Year. We ate the New Year’s Eve meal with Pearl, our former landlady, and some of her extended family. The holiday spanned 8 days, and for much of it shops, restaurants, etc. around the city were closed. It was a wonderful week of being with friends, catching up on rest, and enjoying the sunshine!

Prayer and Praise

Church. Beginning this Sunday (2/21) we will begin holding weekly church services in our new location! Praise the Lord that we are ready to take this next step. Please pray for our co-worker team as we prepare all the details and for many friends to come. But, most importantly please pray that the love of Jesus is felt by all.

Outreach. Starting March 12th, we will be holding a weekly outreach on Saturday mornings for local kids. We are busy preparing all the details and would appreciate wisdom as we plan. Our prayer is that through reaching out to local children, we will have more opportunities to meet whole families and share about Jesus and our church with them.

Looking ahead. We will be doing a brief 8-week home assignment in the USA from early April – early June. During this time, we will participate in a missions conference at our sending church, as well as visiting other supporting churches and individuals, and spending time with family and friends. We will primarily be in the Elizabethtown, PA area (April), Wheaton, IL / Milwaukee WI area (May) and back in Elizabethtown for a few days in June. We look forward to seeing many of you while we are Stateside!

As always, thank you for your faithful prayers and support on our behalf! We are so blessed to have such a strong network of people standing with us!